A prolonged drought is forcing Denver Parks and Recreation to close its grass sports fields for soccer and lacrosse until April 1 — which will keep thousands of children and adults from playing their sports. The news of the closure came only 15 days before the start of the spring season for most teams…

Public Schools, which has 362 acres of irrigated playgrounds and sports fields that normally consume 400 million gallons of water a year, is examining whether to shut down access to its fields. District officials will meet with Denver Water to figure out the next steps, but at this point, the district’s fields are still open for the spring.

While the snowfall in eastern Colorado is beneficial to winter wheat farmers, what farmers who use irrigation really need is a major snowfall in the mountains. That would provide a snowmelt that could help fill reservoirs and provide water for irrigation throughout the growing season. “Frankly, as far as we’re concerned it will have to be a storm of epic proportions to get us caught up,” [Dana] Strongin said…

The water storage facilities in northern Colorado are currently far below normal for this time of year and there is grave concern there may not be enough water to get farmers through this growing season. “They are looking at a situation in which they may just choose not to plant this year and rent out the water back to cities,” Strongin said.